Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 9 Articles
Introduction: Adolescents form two-thirds of our population. This is a unique group of people with special needs. Our\r\nsurvey aims to identify the lifestyle and behavioral patterns in this group of people and subsequently come up with issues\r\nthat warrant special attention.\r\nMethods: A survey was performed in various schools of Karachi. Data collection was done via a face-to-face interview based\r\non a structured, pre-tested questionnaire. Participants included all willing persons between 12ââ?¬â??19 years of age.\r\nResults: Most adolescents with lifestyle issues fell in the age group of 16ââ?¬â??18 years. Females were more depressed than\r\nmales and had more sleep problems. Substance abuse and other addictions were documented more in males. Watching\r\ntelevision or listening to music was stated as the most common late night activity (61.8%) and therefore was also referred to\r\nas the contributory factor for less than eight hours of sleep each day. (58.9%) of the respondents are getting less than eight\r\nhours of sleep daily. (41.5%) of the respondents who felt depressed sought treatment for it. Quite a few of them were also\r\nindulged in substance abuse and other addictions. Only (16.8%) of the respondents opined that physical activity is essential\r\nfor health. Thirty-five adolescents out of all the respondents were smoking cigarettes currently, whereas 7% of the\r\nrespondents chewed paan (areca nut). Peer pressure was the most common reason (37.1%) to start smoking.\r\nConclusion: Adolescents need to be treated as a distinct segment of our population and it is important to realize and\r\naddress their health and lifestyle problems. Inadequate sleep, depression and smoking were the leading unhealthy\r\nbehaviours among the respondents. Families can play an important role to help these adolescents live a healthier life.\r\nFurther research studies should be carried out to highlight issues of concern and their possible solutions in this population....
Background: Thyroid cancer incidence rates have been increasing worldwide but the reason behind this is unclear. Both the\r\nincreasing use of diagnostic technologies allowing the detection of thyroid cancer and a true increase in thyroid cancer\r\nincidence have been proposed. This review assesses the role of body mass index (BMI), diet, and reproductive factors on the\r\nthyroid cancer trend.\r\nMethods: Epidemiologic studies of the selected risk factors up to June 2010 were reviewed and critically assessed.\r\nResults: Among the thirty-seven studies reviewed and despite variation in the risk estimates, most papers supported a small\r\nbut positive association for BMI (risk estimate range: 1.1ââ?¬â??2.3 in males and 1.0ââ?¬â??7.4 in females.). Among specific dietary\r\ncomponents, there was no consistent association of thyroid cancer risk with iodine intake through fortification (risk estimate\r\nrange: 0.49ââ?¬â??1.6) or fish consumption (risk estimate range 0.6ââ?¬â??2.2), nor with diets high in cruciferous vegetables (risk\r\nestimate range 0.6ââ?¬â??1.9). A small number of studies showed a consistent protective effect of diets high in non-cruciferous\r\nvegetable (risk estimate range: 0.71ââ?¬â??0.92). Among reproductive factors (pregnancy, parity, number of live births, use of\r\nprescription hormones, menstrual cycle regularity, and menopausal status), none were consistently associated with higher\r\nthyroid cancer risk.\r\nConclusions: BMI had the strongest link to thyroid cancer risk among those examined. Detailed examinations of populationlevel\r\nrisk factors can help identify and support prevention efforts to reduce the burden of thyroid cancer....
There are substantial geographic variations in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in England that may in part be\r\ndue to differences in climate and air pollution. An ecological cross-sectional multi-level analysis of male and female CHD\r\nmortality rates in all wards in England (1999ââ?¬â??2004) was conducted to estimate the relative strength of the association\r\nbetween CHD mortality rates and three aspects of the physical environment - temperature, hours of sunshine and air\r\nquality. Models were adjusted for deprivation, an index measuring the healthiness of the lifestyle of populations, and\r\nurbanicity. In the fully adjusted model, air quality was not significantly associated with CHD mortality rates, but temperature\r\nand sunshine were both significantly negatively associated (p,0.05), suggesting that CHD mortality rates were higher in\r\nareas with lower average temperature and hours of sunshine. After adjustment for the unhealthy lifestyle of populations\r\nand deprivation, the climate variables explained at least 15% of large scale variation in CHD mortality rates. The results\r\nsuggest that the climate has a small but significant independent association with CHD mortality rates in England....
Background: Healthy lifestyle including sufficient physical activity may mitigate or prevent adverse long-term effects of\nchildhood cancer. We described daily physical activities and sports in childhood cancer survivors and controls, and assessed\ndeterminants of both activity patterns.\nMethodology/Principal Findings: The Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a questionnaire survey including all\nchildren diagnosed with cancer 1976ââ?¬â??2003 at age 0ââ?¬â??15 years, registered in the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry, who\nsurvived $5years and reached adulthood ($20years). Controls came from the population-based Swiss Health Survey. We\ncompared the two populations and determined risk factors for both outcomes in separate multivariable logistic regression\nmodels. The sample included 1058 survivors and 5593 controls (response rates 78% and 66%). Sufficient daily physical\nactivities were reported by 52% (n = 521) of survivors and 37% (n = 2069) of controls (p,0.001). In contrast, 62% (n = 640) of\nsurvivors and 65% (n = 3635) of controls reported engaging in sports (p = 0.067). Risk factors for insufficient daily activities in\nboth populations were: older age (OR for $35years: 1.5, 95CI 1.2ââ?¬â??2.0), female gender (OR 1.6, 95CI 1.3ââ?¬â??1.9), French/Italian\nSpeaking (OR 1.4, 95CI 1.1ââ?¬â??1.7), and higher education (OR for university education: 2.0, 95CI 1.5ââ?¬â??2.6). Risk factors for no\nsports were: being a survivor (OR 1.3, 95CI 1.1ââ?¬â??1.6), older age (OR for $35years: 1.4, 95CI 1.1ââ?¬â??1.8), migration background (OR\n1.5, 95CI 1.3ââ?¬â??1.8), French/Italian speaking (OR 1.4, 95CI 1.2ââ?¬â??1.7), lower education (OR for compulsory schooling only: 1.6,\n95CI 1.2ââ?¬â??2.2), being married (OR 1.7, 95CI 1.5ââ?¬â??2.0), having children (OR 1.3, 95CI 1.4ââ?¬â??1.9), obesity (OR 2.4, 95CI 1.7ââ?¬â??3.3), and\nsmoking (OR 1.7, 95CI 1.5ââ?¬â??2.1). Type of diagnosis was only associated with sports.\nConclusions/Significance: Physical activity levels in survivors were lower than recommended, but comparable to controls\nand mainly determined by socio-demographic and cultural factors. Strategies to improve physical activity levels could be\nsimilar as for the general population....
Growth during adolescence is faster than at any other stage in an individual’s life except for the first year. Good nutrition during adolescence is critical to cover the deficits suffered during childhood. The main strategies suggested for improving adolescents’ nutrition include: food-based strategies like dietary diversification and food fortification, to ensure adequate nutrition at household level. The pulse based dietary strategies prove both nourishing and economical. Horse gram provides 319 Kcal energy/100g, 58.71g carbohydrate/100g, 5.0 g fibre/100g and 234.4mg of calcium/100g and has high protein levels (21.59%) and even better iron contents ( 14.42mg /100g) as has been validated by nutrient analysis in our laboratory. It has also been found to be rich in phosphorus, iron and vitamins such as carotenes, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin-c, which are the vital nutrient for the development of adolescent. Therefore, a nutritious food is developed known as Smridh Upma. This is different from original recipe in vogue as it contains a non conventional food “horse gram” which is relatively high in iron and molybdenum. As for processing of horse gram is concerned, it becomes an essential prerequisite in view of the presence of antinutrients such as phytate, tannins and oxalate. Germination is a simple processing method of food processing at results in an increased nutritive value. By evaluating the recipes through hedonic method it was found that variant C (incorporated with germinated flour) of smridh upma scoring the highest for overall acceptability. Further, the study involving nutrient analysis and product development has focused on an unexplored and underutilized pulse, horse gram, as a source of protein and other micronutrients by using it one of the ingredients of food for infants and children of low socioeconomic settings....
The study was planned to assess the effect of nutritional status and sleeping hours on anxiety level by using height and weight measurement for BMI calculation and daily work schedule recorded to calculate sleeping hours per day by interview method. 24 dancers aged between 18-35 years were selected randomly. The anxiety based questionnaire were administrated to them and responses were analyzed with nutritional status and sleeping hours. The correlation between BMI (X1) and anxiety level (Y1), and sleeping hours per day (X2) and anxiety level (Y2) were analyzed through statistical rank-difference method. After Substituting the values in the equation for X1 and Y1 , we got a ρ of -0.38, it was found that the obtained value of ρ is less than the value given at 0.05 level (ρ >0.05) for N=24 and for X2 and Y2 , we got a ρ of +0.172, it was found that the obtained value of ρ is very much less than the value given at 0.05 level (ρ >0.05) for N=24. We analyzed slight and negative correlation between X1 and Y1 and between X2 and Y2, relation was positive but statistically insignificant, there was no absolute correlation and whenever correlation has been found is due to chance factor. In this study maximum percentage of subjects were under normal range of parameters. It may be concluded that sufficient sleep and BMI in normal range do not give rise to anxiety which would have otherwise affected the overall personality and performance of the dancers....
This field study investigated the release of testosterone and cortisol of a vicarious winning experience in Spanish fans\r\nwatching the finals between Spain and the Netherlands in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer. Spanish fans (n = 50) watched\r\nthe match with friends or family in a public place or at home and also participated in a control condition. Consistent with\r\nhypotheses, results revealed that testosterone and cortisol levels were higher when watching the match than on a control\r\nday. However, neither testosterone nor cortisol levels increased after the victory of the Spanish team. Moreover, the increase\r\nin testosterone secretion was not related to participants� sex, age or soccer fandom, but the increase in total cortisol\r\nsecretion during the match was higher among men than among women and among fans that were younger. Also, increases\r\nin cortisol secretion were greater to the degree that people were a stronger fan of soccer. Level of fandom further appeared\r\nto account for the sex effect, but not for the age effect. Generally, the testosterone data from this study are in line with the\r\nchallenge hypothesis, as testosterone levels of watchers increased to prepare their organism to defend or enhance their\r\nsocial status. The cortisol data from this study are in line with social self-preservation theory, as higher cortisol secretion\r\namong young and greater soccer fans suggests that especially they perceived that a negative outcome of the match would\r\nthreaten their own social esteem....
Sleep deprivation has adverse consequences for a variety of cognitive functions. The exact effects of sleep deprivation,\nthough, are dependent upon the cognitive process examined. Within working memory, for example, some component\nprocesses are more vulnerable to sleep deprivation than others. Additionally, the differential impacts on cognition of\ndifferent types of sleep deprivation have not been well studied. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of one\nnight of total sleep deprivation and 4 nights of partial sleep deprivation (4 hours in bed/night) on two components of visual\nworking memory: capacity and filtering efficiency. Forty-four healthy young adults were randomly assigned to one of the\ntwo sleep deprivation conditions. All participants were studied: 1) in a well-rested condition (following 6 nights of 9 hours in\nbed/night); and 2) following sleep deprivation, in a counter-balanced order. Visual working memory testing consisted of two\nrelated tasks. The first measured visual working memory capacity and the second measured the ability to ignore distractor\nstimuli in a visual scene (filtering efficiency). Results showed neither type of sleep deprivation reduced visual working\nmemory capacity. Partial sleep deprivation also generally did not change filtering efficiency. Total sleep deprivation, on the\nother hand, did impair performance in the filtering task. These results suggest components of visual working memory are\ndifferentially vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation, and different types of sleep deprivation impact visual working\nmemory to different degrees. Such findings have implications for operational settings where individuals may need to\nperform with inadequate sleep and whose jobs involve receiving an array of visual information and discriminating the\nrelevant from the irrelevant prior to making decisions or taking actions (e.g., baggage screeners, air traffic controllers,\nmilitary personnel, health care providers)....
Postprandial hyperlipidemia with accumulation of remnant lipoproteins is a common metabolic disturbance associated with\r\natherosclerosis and vascular dysfunction, particularly during chronic disease states such as obesity, the metabolic syndrome and,\r\ndiabetes. Remnant lipoproteins become attached to the vascular wall, where they can penetrate intact endothelium causing foam\r\ncell formation. Postprandial remnant lipoproteins can activate circulating leukocytes, upregulate the expression of endothelial\r\nadhesion molecules, facilitate adhesion and migration of inflammatory cells into the subendothelial space, and activate the\r\ncomplement system. Since humans are postprandial most of the day, the continuous generation of remnants after each meal\r\nmay be one of the triggers for the development of atherosclerosis. Modulation of postprandial lipemia by lifestyle changes and\r\npharmacological interventions could result in a further decrease of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. This paper will provide\r\nan update on current concepts concerning the relationship between postprandial lipemia, inflammation, vascular function, and\r\ntherapeutic options....
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